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CORBIN — By Jeff Noble / Staff writer
It wasn’t hard to find where the party was on Wednesday. All the lines led to where the 24th Annual Empty Stocking Fund’s Christmas Party was held. And for the families and children of those in need, those lines to Forest Bowling Lanes were heartlines this holiday season.
Beginning Tuesday night and ending Wednesday afternoon, hundreds of adults and kids joined with scores of volunteers and folks to give a helping hand and make Christmas a reality for 500 children.
Corbin police and firefighters were there to help out with the crowd, which waited outside despite a pouring rain. The packages, gifts, toys, goodies to eat and the shoes were all inside the bowling lanes, after a marathon gift-wrapping session at the Corbin First Baptist Church the night before.
Santa Claus was there, too, on Wednesday, but he needed some help go get the gifts to the party.
No problem.
Keeping his trusty sleigh in mothballs until Christmas Eve, Santa decided to borrow a big U-Haul truck to trek the loads of goodies over to the bowling lanes, where this year’s party was held.
The color guard presented the flag. A few words were said by local, regional and state officials, including Corbin Mayor Willard McBurney, former State Rep. Charlie Siler and a representative from Gov. Steve Beshear’s office in Frankfort. They asked for those families and children there to receive the gifts to “make a line out back to the front, so we can bring everyone inside in an orderly manner.” Then Empty Stocking Fund organizer Joe Caldwell called for everyone to enjoy the party before they came back in, saying, “We want the kids to eat pizza, bowl a few rounds, open up their presents, and make all the noise they want to.”
Moments later, when the first group lined up at the main entrance of the bowling lanes, someone asked a volunteer, “Are we ready to let ‘em in?” Rotary Club member J. Bell Sosh agreed, and hollered out, “Let ‘er rip!”
With those three words, this year’s edition of an area tradition started in 1988 by the Corbin Rotary Club and The Times-Tribune was off and running.
It was former Times-Tribune Publisher Wink Devane who came up with the idea. With club members and volunteers wrapping those first presents on the second floor of the Times-Tribune building, that first fundraiser gave a Christmas present for some 80 children. By 1990, the event was being held at the Corbin Civic Center, and in 1993, the party was moved to the present location at the bowling lanes.
Eligibility for children to be included in the project begins in mid-November, with solicitations for donations announced in The Times-Tribune shortly afterwards. Once contributions begin coming in, donors and gift levels are recognized, which continues through December. Gifts and other items are then purchased by Rotary Club members and ultimately unloaded, recognized and wrapped Tuesday night for the party, which was held in two sessions — on Wednesday morning and Wednesday afternoon.
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